WRC 2018 Discussion.

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Everso Biggyballies
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#16

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Bottom post of the previous page:

Neuville has opened uup a small gap at the front, almost 19 secs ahead of Breen in the Citroen. Ogier is still down the order now running 10th, some 4mins 22 secs behind Neuville. Mads Ostberg managed to clear 42 metres over the jump to take the Colin's Crest Award! Østberg thanked rally organisers and dedicated his award to fans of 'Østberg Airlines'. :haha:
(Norway's Eyvind Brynildsen still holds the outright jump record with a 45 metre effort in a Ford Fiesta R5 in 2016. )

Positions after stage 14. Just two short Special Sprints to go today.

POS # DRIVER TIME DIFF PREV DIFF 1ST
1. 5 BEL T. NEUVILLE 2:19:15.6
2. 11 IRL C. BREEN 2:19:34.4 +18.8 +18.8
3. 4 NOR A. MIKKELSEN 2:19:46.4 +12.0 +30.8
4. 6 NZL H. PADDON 2:19:54.0 +7.6 +38.4
5. 12 NOR M. OSTBERG 2:20:12.1 +18.1 +56.5
6. 9 FIN E. LAPPI 2:20:20.5 +8.4 +1:04.9
7. 7 FIN J. LATVALA 2:21:15.5 +55.0 +1:59.9
8. 3 FIN T. SUNINEN 2:21:31.7 +16.2 +2:16.1
9. 8 EST O. TÄNAK 2:22:56.7 +1:25.0 +3:41.1
10. 1 FRA S. OGIER 2:23:37.7 +41.0 +4:22.1
11. 2 GBR E. EVANS 2:24:04.6 +26.9 +4:49.0
12. 35 JPN T. KATSUTA 2:26:49.1 +2:44.5 +7:33.5
Last edited by Everso Biggyballies 6 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

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#17

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

End of day 2 and Neuville has extended his lead in the final two stages:

OVERALL
POS # DRIVER TIME DIFF PREV GAP to 1ST
1. 5 BEL T. NEUVILLE 2:23:23.8
2. 11 IRL C. BREEN 2:23:46.5 +22.7 +22.7
3. 4 NOR A. MIKKELSEN 2:23:55.8 +9.3 +32.0
4. 6 NZL H. PADDON 2:24:12.4 +16.6 +48.6
5. 12 NOR M. OSTBERG 2:24:20.6 +8.2 +56.8
6. 9 FIN E. LAPPI 2:24:29.6 +9.0 +1:05.8
7. 7 FIN J. LATVALA 2:25:27.1 +57.5 +2:03.3
8. 3 FIN T. SUNINEN 2:25:44.3 +17.2 +2:20.5
9. 8 EST O. TÄNAK 2:27:05.1 +1:20.8 +3:41.3
10. 1 FRA S. OGIER 2:27:48.7 +43.6 +4:24.9
11. 2 GBR E. EVANS 2:28:17.5 +28.8 +4:53.7
12. 35 JPN T. KATSUTA 2:31:09.4 +2:51.9 +7:45.6
13. 14 NOR H. SOLBERG 2:33:07.0 +1:57.6 +9:43.2

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#18

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Good onboard night (well very dark) footage in the snow with Hayden Padden.




Days Highlights.


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#19

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Neuville heading into the last stage with a 14 second lead over Breen. Last stage (9.5 klms, which is a power stage with bonus points) is about to start, and for me it is on TV live. :smiley:

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#20

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Rally Mexico is on this weekend. Notable is the return of Sebastian Loeb to WRC for this round.
Random stat: Loeb has won 78 WRC rallies. The same number as the sum of all the current winners competing!

First major casualty is Evans in the M Sport Fiesta. Elfyn Evans has been forced to pull out of Rally Mexico after co-driver Daniel Barritt was taken to hospital with a suspected concussion as a result of a high-speed roll in the morning loop.
Evans was running third when he hit a bank in sixth gear, eventually pitching the Ford Fiesta WRC into a series of rolls.

M-Sport team boss Malcolm Wilson confirmed the pair's withdrawal from the event on safety grounds.
“The problem right now is with Dan, we've had to take him to hospital with concussion. He definitely won't be continuing this afternoon,” Wilson said.

“The guys can definitely fix the car but unfortunately we can't continue because of Dan's situation, we can't take the risk.

Loeb's return has been successful to date.... he currently lies 2nd, 8 seconds behin leader Sordo and won two stages on the opening day.
The Toyota have had problems as has Neuville, firstly a loss of fuel pressure followed later in the day by power steering failure. He lies 8th.
Hyundai's Dani Sordo saw his Rally Mexico lead reduced to just under eight seconds as WRC returnee Sebastien Loeb claimed two stage wins in a dramatic afternoon loop.
Nine-time world champion Loeb secured his first stage victory since Monte Carlo in 2015 by setting the fastest time on SS7 (El Chocolate 2) before doubling up in the second pass through Ortega (SS8).

The Frenchman jumped both Citroen teammate Kris Meeke, who suffered spins on both SS7 and SS8, and Ott Tanak to lie just 7.5s off Sordo heading into day two.

The afternoon's stages were a punishing test on both car and machine, with a number of leading runners hitting trouble.

Elfyn Evans withdrew from the event after co-driver Daniel Barritt suffered a concussion following a high-speed accident in SS4 (Ortega 1). The M-Sport Ford WRC was driveable after the sizeable incident but the pair pulled out on safety grounds.

Toyota endured a miserable day despite Tanak taking the fight to Loeb and Sordo with victory in the SS9 Super Special as night fell. High engine temperatures forced the team to switch off its Anti-Lag System (ALS), resulting in a significant loss in power for its drivers.

Esapekka Lappi had an off on SS7 and failed to complete the stage while teammate Jari-Matti Latvala fared little better, retiring on the road section after his alternator failed following SS8. Latvala will return for Saturday's stages.

There was also drama for championship leader Thierry Neuville. He suffered a loss of fuel pressure in his Hyundai prior to SS5 (Street Stage Leon).

Neuville tried to remedy the issue by opening the door to gain access to the fuel bypass valve behind his seat, but the door slammed shut on the Belgian's arm, causing bruising.

A further loss of power steering in SS8 means Neuville lies in eighth place and faces an early starting position on day two.

Out front Sordo - running 10th on the road - continued to put in fast stages times to extend his advantage over first Meeke and then Tanak.

Loeb and Tanak's stage wins bring them to within 7.5s and 11s respectively of the Hyundai driver.

Sebastien Ogier and Andreas Mikkelsen were in a fight of their own in the afternoon, with the pair swapping fifth and sixth positions in three successive stages between SS6 and SS8.

Ogier, courtesy of his SS10 win at the Autodromo, holds a 1.5s lead over the Norwegian.

With Evans already out and the team's third driver Teemu Suninen also crashing on SS7, Ogier remains M-Sport's only realistic chance of points from Mexico come Sunday.
Results at SS10. (End of Day 1)

POS # DRIVER TIME DIFF PREV DIFF 1ST
1. 6 ESP D. SORDO 1:47:55.4
2. 11 FRA S. LOEB 1:48:02.6 +7.2 +7.2
3. 8 EST O. TÄNAK 1:48:06.4 +3.8 +11.0
4. 10 GBR K. MEEKE 1:48:20.4 +14.0 +25.0
5. 1 FRA S. OGIER 1:48:25.6 +5.2 +30.2
6. 4 NOR A. MIKKELSEN 1:48:27.1 +1.5 +31.7
7. 5 BEL T. NEUVILLE 1:49:57.3 +1:30.2 +2:01.9
8. 31 SWE P. TIDEMAND 1:53:01.0 +3:03.7 +5:05.6
9. 38 GBR G. GREENSMITH 1:56:08.4 +3:07.4 +8:13.0
10. 39 CHL P. HELLER 2:00:29.2 +4:20.8 +12:33.8
11. 35 BOL M. BULACIA WILKINSON 2:00:36.9 +7.7 +12:41.5
12. 7 FIN J. LATVALA 2:03:01.5 +2:24.6 +15:06.1

Evans crash on board and regular.
My thought is did he actually roll? The roof looks very unmarked to me. The roof gutter is damaged but not the roof itself that I can see.


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#21

Post by kals »

Incredible to see Loeb now leading. The top 4 are covered by only 15 seconds though.
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#22

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Rally France (Corsica) this weekend and mid rally now.....

Sebastien Ogier has a commanding lead having won three out of the four stages on the first day of competitive running in the Tour de Corse. Ogier holds a 33.6s lead over Thierry Neuville while Sebastien Loeb crashed his Citroen into a ditch on Stage 2.
“I turned into a right-hand corner and on the exit, I had to brake for a tighter left-hand bend,” recounted Loeb, who will resume the rally on the Saturday.

“I was a caught out a little bit by the amount of gravel and mud on the road, and as a result I understeered and just couldn’t quite make the left-hander.

“As I went off, I tried to avoid hitting a tree straight on but I ended up sliding into a ditch.

“It’s very frustrating because we had made a good start on the opening stage. We’ll now try put on a show for the fans.”
Stage 1&2 highlights.




Stage 3&4 highlights.



Tour de Corse: After Special Stage 4 (Top 10)

Pos Num Driver Nat Team Car Time/Gap
1 1 Sebastien Ogier FRA M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC 1:19:39.0
2 5 Thierry Neuville BEL Hyundai i20 WRC +33.6
3 10 Kris Meeke GBR Citroen C3 WRC +38.7
4 8 Ott Tanak EST Toyota Gazoo Yaris WRC +44.2
5 9 Esapekka Lappi FIN Toyota Gazoo Yaris WRC +1:13.5
6 2 Elfyn Evans GBR M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC +1:13.8
7 6 Dani Sordo ESP Hyundai i20 WRC +1:14.4
8 7 Jari-Matti Latvala FIN Toyota Gazoo Yaris WRC +1:25.0
9 4 Andreas Mikkelsen NOR Hyundai i20 WRC +1:29.2
10 3 Bryan Bouffier FRA M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC +1:44.8

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#23

Post by SBan83 »

You have to feel for Loeb. He should've only lost a few seconds with that off but for reversing into the ditch instead of bit more to the left where the road was. Maybe time to fit rear parking cameras on these cars. :wink:
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#24

Post by theracer120 »

Image

This weekend it is Rally Portugal, and Kris Meeke and his co-driver somehow survived this :shock:


Video here:
https://streamable.com/y6789
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#25

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Jeez that is a big hit. Lucky to get out of it really.

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#26

Post by erwin greven »

Breaking news!!

Meeke and Nagle dropped by Citroën!


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#27

Post by kals »

Hardly surprising, but it’s not as if Citroen have handled Meeke all that well in the past 12 months.
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#28

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

kals wrote: 5 years ago Hardly surprising, but it’s not as if Citroen have handled Meeke all that well in the past 12 months.
Meeke has not handled the Citroen that well in recent rallies. :wink:

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#29

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

An enthralling finish to the WRC Sardinia Rally this weekend.

Going into the last stage Ogier held a lead of under a second over Neuville, having led comfortably the previous day.
On the final stage both were on the edge but Neuville came through to take the rally honours by less than a second, claiming the 5 bonus 'Power Stage' points in the process.

Neuville leads the Drivers championship now by an extended margin, as do Hyundai in the manufacturers title.

A little controversy right at the end arose when Ogier in his haste to depart the end of the penultimate stage forget to pick up his time card, a document they must keep with them on all the stages.
The errant time card was delivered to him by Toyota’s Ott Tanak, a move which officials deemed constituted ‘outside assistance’, though in their penalty acknowledged it was a “genuine human mistake without any deliberate cheating.”

Ogier was handed an 10,000 Euros fine and a suspended points penalty
Another infringement by the M-Sport crew throughout the season however will see Ogier stripped of the 22 points he scored in Sardinia.

Drivers’ championship

Pos Driver Nat Pts
1 Thierry Neuville BEL 149
2 Sebastian Ogier FRA 122
3 Ott Tanak EST 77
4 Esapekka Lappi FIN 70
5 Dani Sordo ESP 60

Manufacturers’ championship

Pos Team Pts
1 Hyundai WRT 212
2 M-Sport Ford WRT 184
3 Toyota Gazoo Racing 161
4 Citroen WRT 129

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#30

Post by erwin greven »

Peugeot announce withdrawal from World Rallycross at end of 2018 season

Peugeot have announced that they will be ending their programme in the FIA World Rallycross Championship at the end of the 2018 season due to the recently announced delay in the electrification of the series.

The French manufacturer has been one of the leading forces in moving things forward with the switch to electric power.

While the Peugeot brand has been part of the championship since its inception in 2014, this year saw the manufacturer mount a full factory entry with rally star Sébastien Loeb and Timmy Hansen as the main drivers. Kevin Hansen also provided support with a non-manufacturer entry.

Despite the added investment, the dominance of PSRX Volkswagen Sweden has seen Loeb as the only driver other than Johan Kristoffersson to win a race this year.

The statement from the manufacturer reads:

After presenting its new generation of Plug-In-Hybrid vehicles as part of its electrification strategy at the Paris Motor Show, Peugeot announces the development of a new range of electrified sports vehicles from 2020.

The Peugeot brand will concentrate its resources on developing these new vehicles & has therefore decided to withdraw from the FIA World Rallycross Championship at the end of the 2018 season, whose evolution towards electrification is uncertain.


As it currently stands, Volkswagen are the only manufacturer team that is expected to return for the 2019 season after Audi announced earlier this season they would also be withdrawing from the season.

While Peugeot is leaving the series as a manufacturer, we could see the return of the Hansen branding to the team, reverting to a private entry, this could also be a similar route followed by the EKS RX team.
https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2018 ... 18-season/
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#31

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

It has been a week of confirmations of who goes where on the WRC front, with Meeke getting a gig at Toyota with Lappi moving to Citroen. A last 'roll' (sic) of the dice for Meeke who got fired from Citroen for crashing and being a general danger to his navigator amongst others. Meeke apparently won his first ever championship in a Toyota Corolla, co driving in a local championship for his brother. It will need more than sentiment for Chris to be a success at Toyota and whereas he might win a few he might also bin a few. (He is actually the last Citroen rally winner) Apparently a key factor in the move to Toyota was their belief in his development skills.

Ott Tanaka and Jari-Matti Latvala continue at Toyota.

As we know Ogier is returning to Citroen, I think on the likleyhood of the M-Sport team losing their works Ford backing, or at least having the support level reduced.. Elfyn Evans is out of contract at the end of the year, but is keen to remain in a Ford. I believe the team have also lost their Red Bull backing which may have influenced Ogiers departure.

AFAIK Hyundai men Hayden Paddon and Dani Sordo are understood to be nearing a continuation of their part-programme deal to drive a single i20 Coupe WRC next season.

* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left


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